Watchuseek Blog

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Kindler & Thorpe - Profusely Engraved Fine Watches of Distinction

Owning a watch that nobody else has, is becoming a difficult task these days. Although a lot of brands are introducing several limited edition models, there are almost no one-offs and limited is a relative concept for most watch manufacturers.

Kindler & Thorpe can help you owning a piece unique, even when the watch itself is - almost - common. The founders, Herman Kindler (Munich) and Paul Thorpe (London) are considered to be the world's leading specialists in engraved horological artistry and only work with Audemars Piguet, Hublot, IWC, Patek Philippe and Rolex.

Working with the leading engravers from the UK, who are sometimes spending up to 100 hours per watch, Kindler & Thorpe are able to give you a 5-year guarantee on an engraved watch. Each 'donor' watch is factory sealed and never used - or owned - before. This also means that you cannot deliver your own (worn/pre-owned) watch to Kindler & Thorpe for engraving. Because of legal issues, they need to be the first owner of the watch. However, via their website and via private appointments, you can select from a wide range of watches of the aforementioned brands.

The horological art from Kindler & Thorpe is inspired and influenced by Georgian, Victorian and Bavarian architecture as well as the British Heraldry from the 5th century. Only the best engravers are able to pay homage to the masters of the past that executed similar hand finished art. Every watch will be delivered with a certificate card that proofs authenticity and will give you the 5-year guarantee. Of course, the watch also includes all original paperwork from the factory.

Their latest introduction is a Rolex Milgauss (ref.116400) which has been subject to the skills of one of the masters of engraving over at Kindler & Thorpe. The white dial version with the orange lightning-bolt hand has been turned into something very unique and will definitely be subject of conversation with watch aficionados and other individuals.

Marcus Hunt from the UK did all the engraving on this Milgauss and was inspired by the Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire. This piece unique is number 1/51 (1 refers to the piece unique and 51 to the total number of watches that Kindler & Thorpe finishes). With a price of 6,000 GBP, we think that this is priced very fair for a Milgauss including 30 hours of labor by Marcus Hunt. Oh yeah, we feel it is important to note that Kindler & Thorpe does not give any discount on their watches. So don't even bother.

Have a look at their website for more examples of this great art work.